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Glossary of Terms
A Aberrant Adepts = Members of the Lost Orders. Accedia = If an Adept moves away from God, this is called Accedia. The result is loss of power and a negative psychological life. Accedia is dangerous because it leaves an Adept vulnerable to some of the forces of Darkness. Adepts = Human beings who have experienced God in a powerful and spiritual way and now have one of God's Attributes imprinted on their soul, granting access to divine mysteries. Administrators = Adepts who have the means to organize information networks to discover signs of a possible supernatural occurrence, usually involving agents of the Darkness, and then hire other Adepts to do the actual investigating. Alchemical Materials = Depending on which game option a player or storyteller decides upon for a Creator Adept, a player may need to have their Creator gather certain kinds of materials before they can perform a creation of something supernatural (normally, a relic, miracle or Golem). B Bad Karma = A gaming expression, if a player does something out of their character or takes advantage of a flaw in the game system, the storyteller may feel free to cause something bad to happen to their character during the game. This is called enacting bad karma. Blooding = To face the forces of the Darkness is to stare in the face of horror, death and the unknown. To do this, an Adept must develop his personal strength and mettle by being Blooded. Blooding is an act, usually a terrifying or stressful one, that flips the switch on an Adept's maturity and transforms them from a naive and nervous neophyte into a mature and determined warrior for the Orders. Brother / Sister = Adepts usually refer to fellow Adepts with the term brother or sister. This is not a uniform tradition, but some Orders cultivate such practices in order to instill camaraderie in their members. Bystander = An Adept who is too old or infirm to fight for the cause against the Darkness. C Call, The Call = Many Adepts, when describing their major encounter with God, report 'hearing' or sensing that God was calling them to do or become something. Thus, most Adepts refer to becoming an Adept and picking up the cause against he Darkness as 'the Call' or 'answering the Call.' Chaplain = A Title and position within a Squad similar to that of a priest or pastor. The Chaplain often leads the Squad in Rituals and looks after the spiritual needs of the Squad members. Check = A roll of the dice in order to determine something, usually the success (or failure) of an action. Citizens of Paradise = A euphemism for the Adepts. Contested Action = A game term for when a player's Adept has to perform a function that takes prolonged time or is particularly complicated. It can also occur when someone is engaging in an action that is being resisted by someone or something else. To succeed in a Contested Action an Adept must redo the same check several times over (amount determined by storyteller) in order to build up enough successes to accomplish the feat. Conversion = It is possible, but rare, for an Adept to switch completely from one Order to another. To do so must involve a life-altering experience wherein an Adept encounters God in a powerful and has a second Attribute imprinted on their soul. Apparently this second Attribute either replaces the first or becomes their 'standard' Attribute? Conqueror = A prestigious and honorary Title awarded to the leaders and heroes of a Crusade. Council = A meeting of Regents, the political importance of a Council is determined both by who attends (the Titles of the attendees) as well as the amount of Regents who attend. Crusade = A major war effort comprising dozens of Squads against a dire threat. D Darkness, The Darkness = A catch-all-term for the forces of sin, death and evil. Anyone who is evil is an agent of the Darkness. A more popular euphemism for agents of the Darkness is simply 'the Bad Guys.' Dark Objects = Items imbued with Magick, the opposite of a Holy Relic. Degrees = A Degree is a hypothetical "power level" an Adept has in relation to how far he can manifest the power of the Attribute of God imprinted on his or her soul. With time comes experience in how to better channel one's powers, allowing the Adept to manifest greater and greater powers. Discipline Arcani = The law among the Adepts that no one will reveal the Supernaturals to the secular world at large. E Established Order of Adepts = Each Order of Adepts is based on a single Attribute of God. Because God is infinite, He has an infinite number of Attributes. However, humanity has only encountered a consistent number of God's Attributes, and these Attributes and their corresponding Orders are labelled the Established Orders of Adepts. Epitaphs = Epitaphs are a tradition among some Orders wherein an Adept will take a sort of surname to himself. This surname is meant to give him character and focus the development of his abilities. Often, the Epitaph will reflect something he is naturally good at. Most Adepts say your Epitaph should be whatever you specialize is that strengthens the Order. For instance, a Champion who is a welder by profession might be called the Iron Champion. F Faction = A special interest group operating within an Order. Freelancer = An Adept mercenary, Squads in need of extra muscle or skill can hire out to a Freelancer for particularly troublesome enemies. G Game Option = Game Options, in the Adepts of God, are optional systems or game features that can be used with certain Adepts. The Creators and their Disciplines or Resurrectionists and their Black Materials are prime examples of Game Options. A storyteller does not need to include them but can do so if a player opts for it. Game Time = A game term about the time-continuum within a game's story. It refers to how much time has passed within the story of a game. For instance if a player's Healer spends the afternoon working in his hospital, he has spent about 3-5 hours of game time at his job. Game time is important because it directly affects things like experience points and certain actions (especially contested actions). H Hero of the Order = A prestigious and honorary Title awarded to Adepts who have achieved great acts of valor and heroism. Holy Relics = Items imbued with Kenosis, often perform a miracle or function of some kind. I Initiated = Ordinary people (non-Adepts) who have been brought into the world of the supernaturals. They were either brought in willingly by someone they know who is a Supernatural, or they stumbled across Supernaturals in action and learned of the Adepts and the various unknown creatures of the world the hard way. Initiated who attempt to tell the wider world of the Supernaturals have their reputations "rewritten" by Supernaturals in power in order to discredit the person. K Kenosis = Supernatural power from God. In game terms, Kenosis is a unit of measurement for how much supernatural power an Adept has. L Lost Orders = Supposedly 'lost' or 'unknown' Orders of Adepts. They are Adept Order but are not part of the recognized or Established Orders of Adepts. Some Adepts believe in them, others do not. M Magick = Supernatural power from anything other than God, technically the opposite of Kenosis. The particular source of power the Magick comes from is called its 'Coven.' O Order, Orders = Normally refers to the Orders of Adepts. An Order is not a mere organization of human beings, it is anyone who has that corresponding Attribute of God imprinted on their soul. Adepts view their Order as more than just a group they've joined, they see it as their vocation in life. R Ragnarok Tournaments = Regular sports competitions organized by local members of the Ragnarok inner-circle and patroned by local Regents and influential Adepts. Regent = Squad leaders are called Regents. A regent was, in early periods of history, a stand in for a King who was away from his throne. Adepts consider that an appropriate ideology for their own leaders who must operate in the place of God, at the head of all things. Rituals = Normally a series of customs and traditions which each Squad develops for itself. Liturgical in nature, they are designed to give form and function to the daily life of the Squad's brotherhood. Rogue = An Adept who operates outside of a Squad. S Sabbaths = Parties and festivals that are Adept only. Adepts here have a chance to let down their guard and be their true selves for the duration of the festivities. Solomon's Porch = A league of Adept intellectuals who discus (discuss = debate) important issues of the day, usually centered around the subjects of religion, politics, art and science. Supernaturals = A catch-all-term for non-Adept supernatural beings. This includes both human and non-human supernatural beings. Squad = A group of Adepts who agree to work together on a daily basis. Squad leaders are called 'Regents.' T Teachings of Gamaliel = "If it is of men, it will die; if it is of God, you will be fighting against God." This is the basic idea behind the Teachings of Gamaliel, a first century Adept of great renown. Many Adept today think of him as both mystic and lawgiver, and his stance on inter-religious relations is thought of as the wisest policy the Orders have. Those Who Will Inherit The Earth = Popular euphemism for the Adepts of God. Titles = Titles are a cross between a rank and a vocation, allowing members of a Squad to better understand their position and duties. Titles can also be used to foster inter-Squad relations, since Adepts holding similar if not identical Titles will be able to more easily interact with each other. There are many Titles, but Regent and Chaplain are the two universal ones. Trust, The Trust = A world-wide coalition of Adepts, other Supernaturals and Initiated who keep the public from learning of the existence of the supernatural. Twin Powers = The Order of Creators and Order of Destroyers, because they represent two opposing forces of nature, are metaphysically linked together. Many Adepts call them the Twin Powers because they are thought to be God's most obvious attributes. Another term for the Twin Powers is 'the Hands of God.' U Uninitiated = The Uninitiated are those human beings who are completely unaware of the world of the Supernaturals. Certainly they are unaware of the Orders of Adepts. V Veil, The Veil = The barrier between the material world and the 'spiritual world.' Veteran = An Adept who has served the cause for more than 15 years and has proven his skill and mettle is often awarded this Title. Veterans are awarded several benefits, not least of which is more leeway in 'interpreting' the decisions of the Regent as well as greater political clout. Vigilante = An Adept who has crossed the line and begun killing human enemies as well as monstrous ones. W War, The War = Euphemism for the struggle against the Darkness and its agents.